'Big Lebowski' Sequel? Coen Brothers Say No

image

By Ramin Setoodeh, Variety

Fans of The Big Lebowski have for years hoped that the Dude would find his way back to the big screen, but in a new interview with Variety, directors Joel and Ethan Coen definitively shot down the possibility of a sequel to the 1998 cult classic.

Related: ‘Hail, Caesar!’: Film Review

“Tara Reid likes to announce that just like [George] Clooney likes to announce Hail, Caesar!,” Joel Coen said in this week’s Variety cover story, referencing how Clooney pushed them to write their latest script by telling the press that it was his next project. “In this case, I don’t think we’ll oblige.”

They also couldn’t envision a spin-off of John Turturro’s Jesus character, an idea that the actor had tried to float to reporters in the past.

“No,” Ethan said.

In fact, there’s only one story from their storied catalogue that could get a second installment. “We’re going to do a Barton Fink sequel at some point,” Ethan explained, citing the 1991 Palme d’Or winner about a 1960s playwright who moves to Hollywood. “It’s going to be Turturro in Berkeley in the ’60s.”

Related: How the Coen Brothers Survived Hollywood and Lived to Make ‘Hail, Caesar!’

Added Joel: “That’s the one movie that we thought deserved a sequel, called Old Fink. But we don’t want to do it until Turturro is quite old. He’s getting there.”

Revisit ‘The Big Lebowski’ cast reunion: